Miles Edgeworth
Skills Edgeworth's primary strength is his brilliant mind. Not only is he naturally a literal genius, but he's spent his entire life since the age of nine completely dedicated to the path of the prosecutor. As such, his education is ridiculously extensive. His main focuses are law and rhetoric, of course, but he's well versed in other subjects as well – literature, history, biology, philosophy, botany, languages...you name the subject, and chances are Edgeworth's studied it. Edgeworth's courtroom skills come in handy even off the job. When he's in Serious Business Mode, his personality is a force to be reckoned with. He's been likened to a demon in the court, and not without good reason – so long as he's purposely trying to be persuasive or manipulative, he can be whatever he wants to be. He's been smooth and captivating, cold yet effectively logical, understatedly yet effectively threatening, and everything in between. That being said..this all falls apart once you remove the pretense of work. No matter how good he is at enthralling audiences and breaking down opponents, when things become personal or friendly, he doesn't quite know how to deal with people anymore, usually making him either clam up. Due to the incompetence and corruption inherent in his world's police force, Edgeworth is accustomed to taking charge of investigations and interrogations himself. As such, he is extremely observant and thorough, and makes an excellent detective. His logical skills and wit are quick and powerful. Edgeworth used to be excellent at both piano and flute, but he hasn't touched either in years, making him rusty. Edgeworth has a number of debilitating phobias, stemming from childhood trauma. The most notable is his seismophobia. Anything even vaguely resembling a tremor, such as airplane turbulence or cell phone vibrations, can trigger him. His reaction depends on the severity of the stimulus: weak trauma makes him short of breath and dazed, and might cause mild flashbacks; strong trauma can cause him to pass out, or break down crying and shivering for hours. He is also claustrophobic and afraid of elevators, but these are much less serious than his seismophobia, and as of late he's been actively trying to overcome them. Personality On the outside, Edgeworth is aloof, serious, and all business. Despite being polite and genteel, he keeps others at an arm's length, careful not to let any vulnerabilities or signs of weakness show. If the situation calls for it, he can attempt making small talk, but he feels awkward doing so unless he knows the other person well. He's rather icy and unforgiving, quick to point out other people's mistakes and unwilling to tolerate any sort of incompetence or time-wasting. This, combined with his superior and often condescending demeanor, can make him seem snobby, as if he believes himself too good to interact with others unless he must. Which couldn't be farther from the truth. In reality, Edgeworth simply doesn't know how to relate to other people. He has little tact, and rarely notices he's being callous or cruel unless the other person's reaction makes it glaringly obvious. The body language and social cues of others often go right above his head. Considering that he was raised specifically to be broken, it makes sense that he never learned how to interact with others or make friends...and since unfamiliar, alien things such as other people make him uncomfortable, Edgeworth would rather shut them out and keep to himself. That, and his self-esteem is unhealthily low, causing him to compensate for his perceived weaknesses by acting overly-prickly and untouchable. By nature, Edgeworth is a soldier. (Just not a physical one.) He revels in verbal combat, and feels the most at home when chasing down leads in an investigation or watching a defendant squirm and sweat on the witness stand. When it comes to his goals, Edgeworth is brutal, ruthless, and single-minded. He enjoys the discomfort of his opponents a bit more than he should, and many people have commented that he's downright frightening when serious...a claim he doesn't dispute. Edgeworth values the truth above all else, and won't hesitate to pursue it even when he knows the results will be tragic or destructive. Overall, this stems from a strong, unwavering sense of justice and responsibility, which Edgeworth has had since he was a child. Despite outwardly being somewhat jaded and cynical, deep down Edgeworth is a wide-eyed idealist, who wants to make the world a better place and truly believes that the forces of good can triumph over the forces of evil. He wants to make sure no one ever suffers like he has, and he's determined to see that goal through to the end. His sense of right and wrong is firmly established and almost impossible to break; he only behaves in ways he believes are right, and does not tolerate those who are willing to knowingly commit evil. He'd do anything in his ability to help an innocent in distress, and is actually caring and gentle deep down. Edgeworth is also a closet geek, who goes to great pains to hide his more "improper" hobbies from the world. He's an obsessive fanboy of The Steel Samurai, a tokusatsu hero show from his own world, and has nigh-encyclopedic knowledge of the series. He displays a Steel Samurai figure in his office, reads manga by sticking it inside law books so no one can see the cover, and can barely contain his hyperactive fanboy squees when someone brings up a game or show he loves. He's aware that this side of him doesn't fit the image he tries to project, and so he hides it from everyone, including his closest acquaintances and family. Appearance Edgeworth stands at 5'10, but seems larger due to his proper, confident posture and intimidating gaze. He has a toned, broad-shouldered frame. His hair is a dark, almost metallic shade of gray that can easily be mistaken for black in certian lighting. He keeps it cut short, with carefully-styled bangs on both sides that reach right below his nose. His eyes are arguably the most notable feature on his face; they're the exact same gray color as his hair, and hold within them a gaze that's been known to part crowds and terrify others. His default expression is a neutral, somewhat cloudy squint, but when others look directly at him, he's picked up an unfortunate habit of immediately changing to an icy, ominous deathglare. He's gotten better about controlling it over the years, but when serious or not thinking about it, his glare returns. Aside from that, his facial expressions aren't very diverse. He usually looks aloof and detached. Annoyance usually turns almost immediately to anger, depression displays clearly but evasively, and smiles never come without some sort of footnote - victorious sneers, smug smirks, and condescending grins are common enough, but legitimate happiness rarely crosses his face. He doesn't know how to express it; when he doesn't go out of his way to cover it up, it comes out awkward and sheepishly, as if he isn't sure he's doing it right. His motions lean towards the dramatic, especially when he's in courtroom mode - expect desk-slamming, fist clenching, sweeping bows, and dramatic pointing. Edgeworth picked up his fashion sense, as well as many of his other little habits and physical tics, from Manfred von Karma. In his younger years, he dressed and carried himself almost like a carbon copy of the man; now, he's toned it down a bit and branched off the smallest bit on his own. His personal style centers around attention-grabbing pseudo-victorian clothes, with cravats instead of ties and an obvious preference for red and black. He's not comfortable dressed-down, and is very fussy about even the smallest things disturbing the perfection of his appearance. (Another habit picked up from von Karma; he even taught Edgeworth that wearing a pin makes one less competent, as only a slob would put holes into their clothing.) Relationships History Miles Edgeworth was born in 1992 in Los Angeles, California, as the only child of the esteemed defense attorney Gregory Edgeworth. He's always idolized his father, and wanted to be just like him. When Miles was nine, his father took him along to watch a trial. When the case ended, the two left the court in an elevator, alongside the bailiff Yanni Yogi. Tragedy stuck as a powerful earthquake hit, sealing the elevator shut. The oxygen deprivation lead to delerium and memory loss, and so Edgeworth can't quite recall what happened afterwards. What he does remember is that he shot his own father dead. In the present-day, Edgeworth's tainted, stitched-together memories of the event have been proven to be misleading. (Every night for fifteen years after the murder, he suffered vivid nightmares of it, which drilled an inaccurate sequence of events into his head.) He was not the murderer; the real killer was Manfred von Karma, a corrupt prosecutor out for revenge. In a previous trial, Gregory had pointed out a single flaw in von Karma's logic, resulting in a single blemish on his otherwise perfect record..and for that, von Karma killed him. Von Karma then adopted Edgeworth, in order to further hurt Gregory. He couldn't directly harm a dead man, but he could tarnish his legacy by destroying his only son. Von Karma emotionally abused Edgeworth, drilling into his head that he was a monster and a murderer, who deserved to be unhappy. Edgeworth decided that the only way to properly punish himself, and the only way to properly avenge his father, was to dedicate his life to fighting crime. From there, Von Karma began shaping Edgeworth into a direct copy of himself. He was so dedicated to ruining Edgeworth's life that he neglected his own daughter, Franziska. His first two cases further traumatized him, due to the deaths of the defendants. (First homicide, than suicide...and the latter occurred right in front of Edgeworth's eyes.) Edgeworth took these experiences as proof that the judicial system was broken beyond repair, and opted to take justice into his own hands by cheating and using illegal methods during trials. When Edgeworth was twenty-two, he prosecuted Joe Darke, an infamous serial killer. Unbeknown to Edgeworth, the key evidence that put Darke away – and got him the death penalty - was forged. The circumstances surrounding the trial were extremely sketchy, attracting a media frenzy. Edgeworth took the bulk of the blame, and as a result the shadowy dealings surrounding his past trials were drug into the limelight. The only thing keeping him from getting disbarred and arrested was the large network of powerful connections he and von Karma had cultivated. Edgeworth's untouchable corruption made him a celebrity, and he acquired the nickname “The Demon Prosecutor.” Edgeworth's infamy got the attention of Phoenix Wright, an old friend whom he had not seen since fourth grade. Phoenix remembered Edgeworth as a good person, and felt obligated to get to the bottom of the rumors. He tried to contact Edgeworth, but Edgeworth refused to speak to him. He didn't want Phoenix to be burdened with someone like him. So, Phoenix switched majors and went to law school, so that he could become a defense attorney and fight Edgeworth. Phoenix made his courtroom debut two years later. During his first clash with Edgeworth, Phoenix won by the skin of his teeth, creating a permanent stain on Edgeworth's otherwise-immaculate record, just as Gregory had done to Von Karma fifteen years ago. Devastated, Edgeworth became obsessed with defeating Phoenix. But at the same time, Phoenix unnerved him. His idealism served as a painful reminder of how Edgeworth used to be and what he used to stand for. Being around him, even as an enemy, slowly began forcing Edgeworth's humanity back into him. They fought again, but this time, Edgeworth threw the trial at the last minute, because he knew Phoenix's client was innocent, and he could not bear to hurt another innocent person. Two months later, on the fifteenth anniversary of Gregory's death, von Karma framed Edgeworth for murder. He set it up in such a way that Edgeworth would constantly be reminded of his father's murder, causing him to snap and confess to it. Not a single defense attorney would defend Edgeworth, except for Phoenix. Phoenix got acquitted for the new murder, but when declared “innocent,” Edgeworth broke down and demanded he be punished for killing his father, confessing to everything. However, Phoenix proved Von Karma to be the murderer in that as well. During Edgeworth's next trial, the events surrounding Darke's trial and execution were drug into the limelight and investigated, proving that Edgeworth had indirectly caused a man's death using forged evidence. During his confession, the man who masterminded the forgery told Edgeworth that he was merely doing what needed to be done, as Von Karma used to do...and that since he was cut from the same cloth from them, he'd understand someday. This marked the breaking point for Edgeworth; immediately after the proceedings, Edgeworth fell into a deep depression and disappeared, leaving a suicide note behind. During his time in isolation, Edgeworth reflected over his life, trying to figure out just what had gone wrong. His moral compass and outlook slowly repaired, and he finally realised why Phoenix had defeated him three times – trials weren't about winning and losing, or maintaining perfect records. They were about justice. Meanwhile, Franziska von Karma left Germany and came to Los Angeles, in order to defeat Phoenix. She planned to prove her superiority over Edgeworth by defeating the man he could not, thereby getting revenge against him for always being better than her and always monopolizing her father's attention. Phoenix defeated Franziska. Twice. Both these times, Edgeworth used his connections within the police force to observe and manipulate the outcomes, hoping Franziska would come to the same conclusion he did about the meaning of the courtroom. When she didn't, Edgeworth came out of hiding to directly demonstrate what he'd learned to both her and Phoenix. He fought Phoenix once again, and this time won...because Phoenix's client was legitimately guilty. After that, Edgeworth went abroad, honing his skills and finding way to improve the legal system by prosecuting and studying law in five different countries. He spent the next year traveling extensively in order to gain education and experience, taking a single interlude to return to Los Angeles when Phoenix was hospitalized and desperately needed someone trustworthy to take over one of his trials. A month later, Edgeworth returned home for good. However, starting from his airplane ride home, Edgeworth was swept into several connected murder cases, giving him no time to rest. Immediately after getting a confession from the mastermind behind it all, Edgeworth was pulled into Pandora. Pandora History blah blah blah